Spread Your Connection Across Wi-Fi
Lots of hotels will sell you an Internet connect at a daily rate. The D-Link SharePort Go lets you share that to all your wireless devices without paying for each one.
Battery Backup
The SharePort Go has a port for external power, but it also has a 1700mA battery to keep the signals flying for up to four hours even when you can’t get to an outlet. You can also charge another device from the SharePort’s battery if needed.
Share Files from USB Drives
The SharePort Go has a USB port where you can connect a storage device to share its contents to devices that connect to it wirelessly.
Editor’s Choice Award
For all that this device can do, we are enthusiastically giving it the Geek Beat Editor’s Choice Award. You can pick one up for just $38 at Amazon. We’ll never travel without it!
If I don’t need the battery, how does the SharePort™ Mobile Companion (DIR-505) compare, in terms of capability? Specifically the hotel connection sharing feature? Seems like it’s even smaller, and a bit cheaper (now), so if the only thing it doesn’t have is the battery, it seems like it would be really cool, too.
I think you’re right, but I haven’t been able to test that unit. Of course, at these prices, why not get one with a battery anyway? You never know when it might come in handy! 🙂
Love the show, watch it all the time on my TV via my Boxee Box. My question is with this as a media share would my Apple TV3 be able to benefit for the D Links media sharing ability . Your biggest fan in Northern Ontario :-).
Cheers
Mike
I don’t think the AppleTV will benefit from the D-link sharing ability. You need an iTunes server basically, and the D-Link only has a DLNA server I believe. Sorry about that! 😉
Not impressed.
Have been using the TP-Link TL-WR702N for 2 yearsnow. It’s under 25$ and ways smaller.
Does it specifically allow you to log onto hotel wifi where they charge on a per device basis, and pay for only a single connection, then share it with all of your other devices?
Also that unit lacks the battery, meaning it always requires a power source. And it doesn’t allow for external drives to be shared. So if you definitely never need any of those features, the TP-Link is ok (as are several other portable routers).
John P.
Hi there, I have been thinking of buying this product mainly due to its wireless sharing feature. I wanted to stream movies from my hard drive to my iPad. I would like to know if Internet is needed to use this wireless sharing feature (SharePort).
Thanks,
Ibban
No need for Internet for media sharing! 😉
Hi. I just bought one unit on the merit of your positive review despite the negative comments in Amazon. The hotspot feature worked as described in your show. The other feature that you must highlight is the USB port. The port allows you, not only to download, play and listen to files, but also upload data to a USB stick. To upload data you need an iOS app called iUPLOADER. This piece of software uses a web browser to access any device attached to the USB port. I was abled to retrieve and save data from Dropbox, Skydrive and POGOPLUG to the USB device. The web browser allows you to upload almost any file in any web site that supports HTML file uploads. You can say that this app puts a USB port in your iOS devices. I have found two cons – accessing external USB hard drives may require some patience and retrieving large jpeg files may take a longer time to retrieve and view. One last thing to note, unlike Airstash, you do not need to disconnect to the internet to access files in your USB drive. 🙂
Looks like a really cool device, however I was considering trying to use it as a replacement for my ADSL connection via using this in Hotspot mode (connected through my mobile phone’s internet sharing) and then connecting the Ethernet port to my home router, thus saving $100 a month by ditching my ADSL/Phone Line. But the literature indicates that the Ethernet port doesn’t work when in hotspot mode?
Great review! Price is 51$ now though – guess this is because of the review 🙂
The $38 price tag is now gone. It’s now $50.
You can thank Amazon’s auto racketing pricing mechanism for that I guess. Sometimes we drive enough purchased to a product that the pricing actually increases. 🙂
Asus makes a similar router. It is the WL-330N 5-in-1 Wireless-N150 Mobile Router. I picked one up from Amazon about a year ago for about $50. This D-Link looks like a better unit having a battery and USB port. But, the Asus’ connection sharing setup is just as easy as you describe the D-Link being.
Question Jay, does the Asus allow you to use it to clone your Mac address when you log into a hotel room so you can pay for the daily fee on just one device, but use all your devices without getting charged? Because that was a special feature of the Shareport.
It does. That was the primary reason I bought it.
One nice little advantage these devices give you is the ability to setup your own security. I have been in a number of hotels where the wifi connection is not secure. Of course, that is only true if you have a wired connection to the hotel network. Otherwise, you could be as secure as you want to between your devices and your router, but the hop between your router and the hotel’s would still be unsecured.
Why hasn’t John P. done a review on Amazon on Amazon that would have helped the product. But I love the review I’ve no need for one but if travelled would be very interested in getting one.
Good point Mark. I need to do a review, but I was also thinking of putting a clean version of my video review up on Amazon (stripping the ad). They really do deserve to do well with this product.
Cheers!
John P.
Great review.
The only thing i’m concerned about is that I have a DIR-655 router that also uses the Shareport software (or did when I had Windows 7) and it required the app to be enabled on the desktop in order to share files. That made it quite annoying.
Does a device connected, such as a Drobo, show up as a mounted network drive or does the app need to be installed on our phone or computer?
Also, does it support Apple’s Time Machine if an external drive is connected to it?
I’ve got a Drobo that has all my media, and I had been using a PogoPlug, mounting that as a Drive in Windows, or a Place in Finder, and then either backing that up to CrashPlan or accessing the media on the Drobo through the Desktop Plex Server.
If this acts like a NAS and is accessible by Plex, CrashPlan, and Time Machine, then it would meet my needs.
Thanks in advance.
Marc K.
I haven’t actually used the media server yet, but according to the manual:
http://www.dlink.com/us/en/home-solutions/connect/routers/-/media/Consumer_Products/DIR/DIR%20506L/Manual/DIR506LA1Manual092612v10US.pdf
You can access media either through a web interface or with a mobile app. It has a DLNA server built in.
I don’t think it will act as a NAS though. Its one thing to do DLNA media sharing, it’s another to allow you to map a connected drive to another machine connected via the network. Plus I would not recommend this for a primary router. Just something to use when you’re on the go.
Wasn’t looking to use it as my primary router, but rather replace my PogoPlug because I only use it to map the drive locally, not it’s main purpose as a cloud storage device. But, thanks for responding. Your answer is exactly what I was expecting- something similar to AirDroid.
Would be willing to do a HOW-TO showing how to use the DLNA from this device (or any other) to, say a Galaxy S3 using this cable from monoprice:
http://www.monoprice.com/products/product.asp?c_id=108&cp_id=10833&cs_id=1083314&p_id=10020&seq=1&format=2
(I’ve been looking everywhere for an MHL that would work with the S3 till I found this one.)
I keep hearing DLNA mentioned and devices supporting it, but I confess that I’ve never actually seen it in action or how it works.
“This is a single-cable adapter solution for the Samsung Galaxy SIII and Note II. Normally you would need an 11-pin to 5-pin micro USB adapter, an MHL to HDMI adapter, an HDMI cable, and another micro USB cable to provide power to the converter, but this single cable has all you need. Just plug the micro USB end into your Galaxy SIII, plug the USB A end into a USB power source (computer, charger, etc.), and plug the HDMI end into your TV. The cable is 29″ long on the micro USB end and 69″ long on the USB A male end. It supports all video resolutions, including 1080p, and up to 8 channels of audio (for 7.1 surround sound). It also supports 3D video and HDCP media protection.”